TY - JOUR
T1 - Epigenetic regulation of retinal development and disease
AU - Rao, Rajesh C.
AU - Hennig, Anne K.
AU - Malik, Muhammad T.A.
AU - Chen, Dong Feng
AU - Chen, Shiming
N1 - Funding Information:
Acknowledgments Our work presented herein was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health (R01EY017641 to DFC, R01EY012543 to SC, R21DA024803 to DFC, P30EY02687 to WU-DOVS), Department of Veterans Affairs (1I01RX000110 to DFC), and Department of Defense (W81XWH-09-2-0091; W23RYX-9104-N603 to DFC). Additional support was provided by the American Health Foundation (to RCR), a Lew Wasserman Merit Award (to SC), and unrestricted funds from Research to Prevent Blindness (to WU-DOVS).
PY - 2011/9
Y1 - 2011/9
N2 - Epigenetic regulation, includingDNAmethylation, histone modifications, and chromosomal organization, is emerging as a new layer of transcriptional regulation in retinal development and maintenance. Guided by intrinsic transcription factors and extrinsic signaling molecules, epigenetic regulation can activate and/or repress the expression of specific sets of genes, therefore playing an important role in retinal cell fate specification and terminal differentiation during development as well as maintaining cell function and survival in adults. Here, we review the major findings that have linked these mechanisms to the development and maintenance of retinal structure and function, with a focus on ganglion cells and photoreceptors. The mechanisms of epigenetic regulation are highly complex and vary among different cell types. Understanding the basic principles of these mechanisms and their regulatory pathways may provide new insight into the pathogenesis of retinal diseases associated with transcription dysregulation, and new therapeutic strategies for treatment.
AB - Epigenetic regulation, includingDNAmethylation, histone modifications, and chromosomal organization, is emerging as a new layer of transcriptional regulation in retinal development and maintenance. Guided by intrinsic transcription factors and extrinsic signaling molecules, epigenetic regulation can activate and/or repress the expression of specific sets of genes, therefore playing an important role in retinal cell fate specification and terminal differentiation during development as well as maintaining cell function and survival in adults. Here, we review the major findings that have linked these mechanisms to the development and maintenance of retinal structure and function, with a focus on ganglion cells and photoreceptors. The mechanisms of epigenetic regulation are highly complex and vary among different cell types. Understanding the basic principles of these mechanisms and their regulatory pathways may provide new insight into the pathogenesis of retinal diseases associated with transcription dysregulation, and new therapeutic strategies for treatment.
KW - Cell type-specific transcription
KW - Chromatin modifications
KW - Neuronal development and disease
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84863980516&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s12177-012-9083-0
DO - 10.1007/s12177-012-9083-0
M3 - Review article
C2 - 23538488
AN - SCOPUS:84863980516
SN - 1936-8437
VL - 4
SP - 121
EP - 136
JO - Journal of Ocular Biology, Diseases, and Informatics
JF - Journal of Ocular Biology, Diseases, and Informatics
IS - 3
ER -